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Dean Domino
Dean Domino is one of the three companions to the player, and (depending on choices made by the player) the secondary antagonist of the the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Dead Money; a pre-war lounge singer and a guest of the Sierra Madre, Dean survived the nuclear apocalypse as a ghoul and remained at the abandoned casino to further his attempts at robbing it. When Father Elijah arrives at the Sierra Madre, he captures Dean and forces him into a bomb collar as part of his own attempt at a casino heist. As such, when the player is also captured by Elijah, Dean is one of the three companions that must be enlisted to complete the heist. He was voiced by the late Barry Dennen. Background Prior to the Great War, Domino had been a world-famous lounge singer and performer, touring the United States and Europe - even doing several performances at the Las Vegas Strip. All this changed when he was invited to put on a show at the Sierra Madre casino at the behest of Frederick Sinclair, the Sierra Madre's founder. Immediately envious of Sinclair's wealth and success, his jealousy soon grew further, in the end simply hating Sinclair for being happier than him. Ultimately, Domino formulated a plan to rob the Sierra Madre, intending to "take Sinclair down a peg" by taking everything he'd ever loved from him. Enlisting the help of his ex-girlfriend Vera Keyes, a beautiful young starlet that Sinclair had become infatuated with, he ordered her to seduce Sinclair as part of a scheme to break into the Sierra Madre's vault; when Vera started showing reluctance, he threatened to expose her Med-X addiction unless she continued (unaware that she was actually terminally ill and needed the drug for pain relief). Before Domino's plan could be enacted, however, the Great War began: though the casino and the surrounding resort was safe from nuclear bombardment, the Sierra Madre's exits were automatically sealed shut, trapping the guests inside; then, the security holograms malfunctioned, and almost every single guest and staff member of the Sierra Madre was killed in the ensuing massacre. Against all odds, Domino survived. Unwilling to let go of his grudge and obsessed with robbing the casino of its treasure, he remained on the grounds of the deserted resort, planning the perfect heist of the Sierra Madre. Eventually, exposure to radiation transformed Domino into a ghoul - allowing him to live on through the next two hundred years, alone except for the security holograms and the ghost people. ''Dead Money'' At some point, Domino is attacked and bomb-collared by the Nightkin Dog on the orders of Father Elijah. Following the Courier's unwilling recruitment, Elijah orders the Courier to collect three individuals: Dog/God, Christine, and Domino. In their first meeting, the ghoul instructs the Courier to sit down in a chair nearby, only to then reveal that the chair has a shaped charge attached and will detonate if he perceives anything untoward. Fortunately, the Courier is able to convince the lounge singer to join them, if only because Domino sees the opportunity to complete the heist he's been planning for the last two centuries. After the Courier gets Dog/God and Christine to meet up at the fountain outside the gates, Domino directs the Courier to escort him to his position at Puesta del Sol south in order to trigger the Gala Event and open the Sierra Madre - though only once the Courier has activated the security holograms to keep him protected from the Ghost People lurking around the perimeter. Once inside, Elijah instructs the Courier to kill the other members of the team on the grounds that they have outlived their usefulness; regardless of whether the Courier decides to kill or spare them, this mission ultimately leads to a confrontation with Domino in the Tampico Theater. The tone of this meeting depends on how the Courier treated Domino up until now: if his ego was left unchallenged, the ghoul will simply direct the Courier along the Tampico's backstage area to deactivate the security holograms; if the Courier earned his displease, he will allow the holograms to attack. After the security holograms are deactivated or disabled, Domino reveals his reasons for participating in the heist, admitting to the enmity he still holds for Sinclair - even after Sinclair's death and two hundred years of intervening time. Even more horrifically, Domino reveals that he was the one who forced Christine into the Auto-Doc and severed her vocal chords, having done so in order to outfit her with Vera Keyes' voice: with this, he could use Christine to activate the secret elevator leading to the Sierra Madre's vault. Domino's ultimate fate depends again on his relationship with the player. If the Courier regarded him with respect and curried his favor, Domino reveals his plan in a fairly amiable manner and sends the Courier to rob the vault in his place. However, if their relationship proved confrontational, Domino gets violent and attacks, forcing the Courier to kill him - and then immediately evacuate the area before Domino's bomb collar explodes. Should he survive this final encounter, Domino discovers the final records of Sinclair and Vera during the ending: Sinclair had died while trying to undo the security measures, leaving a heartfelt letter to Vera on one of the vault computers; Vera, trapped in the casino, committed suicide by overdose before the holograms could find her. After discovering these stories, Domino suddenly feels a distinct pang of sorrow - though he cannot explain why. He finally lets go of the Sierra Madre, and instead sets his sights on New Vegas, it's casinos ripe for the taking. Unknown to Domino, Sinclair had caught onto his plans and had designed a trap in the vault to permanently seal Domino away if he ever attempt to rob it. Alive or dead, Domino never reaches the vault, although this trap can ultimately be used to entrap Father Elijah once and for all. Personality Domino's most notable trait is his vanity and ego. Already full of himself, Domino saw Sinclair's success as self-righteous and hated the man for essentially being happier than he was. In his twisted perspective, Domino felt he was in the right by bringing Sinclair down a peg, when, in reality, he was simply acting out of his own jealousy and greed. This is also reflected in his interactions with the Courier: if at any point the Courier manages to insult Domino, he will consider it grounds for eventual betrayal and murder. Succeeding all Barter checks with him will also be perceived as a threat, and Domino will once again consider betraying the Courier for making him feel inferior to such perceived intelligence. Domino is remorselessly manipulative and perfectly willing to use anyone in his schemes. As noted above, he not only blackmailed Vera Keyes into helping him, but also forced Christine into the role of a substitute Vera. He also has no problems with using the Courier either, even on a good outcome where he assumes the Courier will act out his revenge for him. However, when Domino finds the records of Vera and Sinclair's final moments, he find himself briefly feeling sorrow - even remorse - though he doesn't understand why he feels this way. As with all characters in the add-on, Domino also embodies the theme of not letting go. His jealousy of Sinclair and desire for revenge drove Domino to cling to the Sierra Madre for over 200 years, never letting go of his one opportunity to avenge the "insult" that Sinclair represented. Powers And Abilities Like all Ghouls, Domino possesses a longevity bordering on immortality and inbuilt immunity to radiation, allowing him to survive in areas that would kill unprotected humans. However, centuries of living in the poisonous Cloud surrounding the Sierra Madre has also granted him a degree of resistance to its effects, and he can temporarily confer this immunity to players if they remain close to him. Since the Great War, Domino has learned a number of useful skills over the course of his two-century exile: as one of the only companions in the add-on with his own gun, he's an excellent shot; also, he has a gift for preparing explosives and home-made booby traps. As well as trapping the Courier's chair with a bomb, the surrounding area is littered with rigged shotguns, grenade bouquets and landmines, all arranged to keep Domino safe from the roaming Ghost People. On a minor note, Domino's voice is not raspy and guttural like most Ghouls, but clear and accented - indicating that he still possesses his singing voice (even after centuries of chain smoking!). 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